July Poker League - Game #3

Recap of Game 3 (Mon, July 7)

Despite the teasing of new people coming to the game, there were still the same 10 people in attendance at the Daffy residence. However, the tournament started with two tables due to this uncertainty (and the fact that the Daffy living room was too crowded for one table).

The group decided to have the blind clock move faster and to eliminate the smallest level of blinds to make things move a little bit more quickly. This, coupled with the fact that the blinds came around more quickly with two tables, changed the dynamic of the tournament.

Teen Wolf shaved his scraggly beard and will now be called Pads for the purpose of this blog.

At one table sat Pads, Daffy, Karma, Zeus, and .com. At the other table sat Donkey, True, Chick, and My Choice. Lady Luck joined that table a few minutes late. Having lost a little bit of money already, he quickly proceeded to lose the rest of it and finish in 10th place. Donkey breathed a sigh of relief for not finishing in 10th place again.

The group decided to combine tables once 8 people remained.

Karma then slowplayed her A-10 when the flop came A-2-8. Everybody checked to the turn which was a 9. Betting ensued. The river came K. Daffy bet agressively and Karma went all-in and was quickly called by Daffy's K-9 two pair. Slowplaying unfortunately backfired on Karma who finished in 9th. With a bunch of chips, Daffy's table now merged with the other table for the final 8.

Blinds escalated quickly and many people who had not built chip leads only had a handful of big blinds left, leaving people few options but to go all-in. In this manner, Zeus went out in 8th and My Choice went out in 7th place. Donkey, who played much better poker this evening, eventually went out in 6th place.

Pads, who won last week and was the current points leader, was now the short stack. Everybody folded to Daffy, who called from the small blind with 4-4 and Pads checked his 7-2 in the big blind. The flop came 2-4-J. Daffy checked to Pads, who paired up and saw a chance to win $4 in the prop bet. Pads went all in and was quickly called and eliminated in 5th place, earning Daffy 2 extra points. Daffy also had a huge chip stack.

The four remaining players, .com, True, Chick and Daffy, battled for a while. .com eventually went out in 4th place and earned three points. Daffy did not see many playable hands for a while, and saw his huge chip stack start to dwindle and stacks became more even. Eventually Chick became short stacked and went out in 3rd place. Daffy recovered from his dwindling stack to beat True heads up to finish first. True earned 7 points and finished 2nd.

It was a big night for Daffy who perhaps earned some vindication after Pads and My Choice imitated his distinguished voice all evening and Daffy perhaps made a statement, refuting the claim made by this author after Game 2 that My Choice had played the best poker so far. The rivalries can only heat up as we go into Game 4!

Points (Total):

True - 7 (17)
Daffy - 12 (15)
Pads (Teen Wolf) - 1 (12)
Chick - 5 (10)
.com - 3 (10)
Karma - 0 (7)
My Choice - 0 (5)
Lady Luck - 0 (3)
Zeus - 0 (3)
Donkey - 0 (0)

The most amazing hand, though, took place in the cash games after the tournament. Playing dealer's choice 10 cent ante, no limit cash games, Pads called for 5-card draw, deuces wild. Chick folded but everybody else stayed in with some small betting. Daffy, in first position, asked for one card and drew a wild to give him 10-J-Q-K-2 for an ace-high straight. .com replaced cards next and wound up with two natural pair. Zeus asked for two cards and in final position, Pads replaced all five cards and drew Q-8-Q-8-2 for a full house. Not bothering to hide his excitement, Pads giddily waited to bet. Watching the way he was acting, Daffy and .com wisely checked their otherwise strong hands. Zeus surprisingly bet $5. Pads quickly raised all-in, Daffy and .com folded, and Zeus called immediately. Pads turned his full house. Zeus dramatically paused and showed his 4-4-2-2 for four of a kind! .com marveled at the fact that his two pair was the worst hand on the table. Pads took a pounding (ouch).